Supports: racks – Special article – Recorded music type
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-06
2002-01-29
Gibson, Jr., Robert W. (Department: 3634)
Supports: racks
Special article
Recorded music type
C211S041120, C211S049100, C312S009480
Reexamination Certificate
active
06341702
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
Racks, storage shelves, brackets, trays, clips and other devices for the holding of entertainment media such as compact discs (CD), CD-ROMs, and cassette and video tapes are well known and widely available. They come in two general forms, one for horizontal use and the other for vertical use. The vertical racks offer the advantage of small space or footprint but suffer from the inability to allow easy insertion new media into a preferred location in the rack, such as alphabetical filing would require. That is, if a new media wants to be inserted in, say, the ‘M” section of the rack, often the entire rack below the insertion point must be rearranged to make that space available, each time new media is added.
For the horizontal rack, a large footprint requirement makes it less viable in space-squeezed shelving or entertainment equipment's top surfaces.
Additionally, both varieties do not allow for downward-angled media retention as would be required for maximum-dense packing of the media on, for example, a rotating ‘Roladex®-type’ file system, or, for overhead storage/access.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention overcomes these disadvantages. The rack of the present invention comprises at least four fixed stanchions facing each other. Stanchions are channel-shaped co-operatively secured at their upper and lower ends to parallel end plates or other fixturing means. The four stanchions may be located substantially cornerwise to each end plate, forming an open sided, closed ended, box-shaped structure. Front stanchions may parallel while rear stanchions may be better attached to end plates at corner positions, that is, at about 45° to a centerline.
The front stanchion's open sides face each other and have compressible elements secured therein, a portion of said compressible elements protruding past the stanchion into the open space between said stanchions. The compressible element may be an elastomeric foam, fiber mat, bristle, spring, tubing, rope or other material chosen for the purpose. A preferred material is zero compression set urethane foam. The end plate width dimension is slightly greater that the width of the media thereby holding stanchions also at that same distance. Because the compressible elements protrude, inserting media into rack forces their compression. This creates the desired side-holding force.
By selecting the amount by which the compressible elements protrude from the stanchions, adequate side-holding force is generated allowing inserting, and removing, and the sliding the media along the stanchions between end plates. The rear stanchions set at a 45° angle and lined with compressible elements, provides a stop and additional support for the media.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4366903 (1983-01-01), Gaiser et al.
patent: 4715669 (1987-12-01), Baillie et al.
patent: 5193891 (1993-03-01), Headley
patent: 5341943 (1994-08-01), Fraser
patent: 5980002 (1999-11-01), Crowe
patent: 6193336 (2001-02-01), Jencka
patent: 6196647 (2001-03-01), Kupferschmid
patent: 6203129 (2001-03-01), Kupferschmid
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